In response to the Banking Royal Commission, a Banking Code was re-written and came into force on July 1 - the governing body being the Banking Code Compliance Committee.

University of Wollongong finance lecturer Dr Paul Mazzola said it will offer more transparency around products and processes - such as ensuring fees and interest rates are clearly explained - but it won't catch everyone out.

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"Only half of the retail banks in Australia are members, the impression is the whole banking industry is covered by this code," Dr Mazzola said. "No-one's talking about this, it's being brushed under the carpet."

The Illawarra academic said at last count he found around 42 retail banks in the country but only around 23 were listed as members of the Australian Banker Association.

Those banks which are subscribers to the code can be "named and shamed" for doing the wrong thing, and in turn have potential legal action initiated against them by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC).

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"I would like to see the code apply to all the banks uniformly," Dr Mazzola said.

Some of the changes mean simplified loan contracts, no more unsolicited credit card limits, giving a three-day cooling off period before people guaranteeing a loan are allowed to do so, providing longer notice periods for when loan conditions change, and allowing customers to close a credit card account online.

"It's the beginning of an evolutionary process to change the culture within the banks," Dr Mazzola said.